


Learning to bird call

by Tinglecannon



Series: Fairgameweek2020 [4]
Category: RWBY
Genre: All the kids make appearances but I didn't want to tag them all, Crow!Qrow, Dialogue Heavy, M/M, Pining, Qrow Branwen has eight kids, fairgameweek2020
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23223445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinglecannon/pseuds/Tinglecannon
Summary: Day 4: BirdsClover glances down at the items in his hands, then back to the two teenagers in front of him. Ruby is practically vibrating in place with excitement, meanwhile Yang has a hand on her hip and a lazy, knowing smirk on her face. What she knows, and what’s exciting Ruby, he has no idea.“How do you two know so much about bird care?”“Don’t worry about it,” Yang says with a wave of her prosthetic arm in time with Ruby giggling behind her hand, “It’s a secret!”
Relationships: Clover Ebi & Ruby Rose, Clover Ebi & Yang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: Fairgameweek2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665670
Comments: 9
Kudos: 104





	Learning to bird call

**Author's Note:**

> I've been struggling *dabs*. I have the entire story laid out but I didn't have time to type it all so I wanted to post the first part before the day ended so I could technically be on time.
> 
> Day 4: Birds / ~~Soulmates~~

It’s a quiet morning when Clover first sees the crow.

He thought he was hallucinating initially. He’s rather tired, and he's never seen a bird just sitting outside the windows of the conference room before. Yet even after blinking and rubbing his eyes, it was still there.

Clover discreetly glances around the room, wondering if anyone else saw the bird. None of the other Ace Ops, Specialist Schnee, nor General Ironwood seem to notice it, or if they did they didn't care. He, on the other hand, could hardly tear his eyes away.

It’s just a regular crow, but it’s still captivating to look at. Maybe he's just exhausted enough that any distraction is welcome. The crow seems to be paying better attention to the meeting than Clover himself is, it's red, beady eyes unblinking and face turned towards the projectors.

Clover has to suppress a snort at that thought. Somehow imagining a bird caring about his job more than he is at the moment is truly humourous. Ok, he’s _definitely_ exhausted.

When Ironwood requests Clover's latest report he’s forced to drag his gaze away and focus on the meeting at hand. His report only takes a couple minutes to relay, then Ironwood gives some last orders and ends the meeting.

Without thinking Clover looks back at the window only to see the bird already flew away. He feels strangely disappointed.

\-----

Clover walks into the cafeteria with one goal in mind: tea.

He doesn't like coffee, tried it for a long time but all it did was taste like bitter dirt and make him jittery, so he drinks tea for caffeine instead. The taste is better, different blends have different uses making it more versatile, and it’s a little healthier to consume than coffee. He opens the cabinet and finds a large variety of tea blends to choose from, stares at the sleepytime brew for a moment too long before finally grabbing the box of highly caffeinated black tea with orange instead.

When he shuts the cabinet door there’s a person leaning against the counter right next to him that wasn’t there a minute ago, causing him to jump slightly.

“Morning, shamrock. Sorry to startle you,” Qrow smirks. He suspiciously doesn’t look sorry at all.

“It’s fine, just tired.” Clover moves to retrieve a mug only for Qrow to hand him one. “Oh, thanks. Do you want some?”

Qrow shakes his head, “Nah, I’m good.”

He shrugs then goes about the motions of brewing a mug for himself; heating water, adding the tea leaves, letting them steep for a couple minutes, then removing them. He feels like he’s moving on autopilot, mind a little fuzzy and eyes heavy, until he brings the mug to his lips and takes a deep inhale, eyes falling shut as the orange notes and warmth fill his senses. 

After taking a long sip, he blinks his eyes open and sees Qrow watching him closely. “Tired is an understatement.”

Clover huffs a laugh, “Just a lot of work for the Ace Ops to do lately.” Qrow arches a brow at that, disbelief clear on his face. “Ok, me specifically, but it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Jimmy must be working you into the ground then. You look dead on your feet.”

Clover smiles sheepishly with a small shrug. That wasn’t entirely untrue, but he knew Winter was also getting a large stockpile of extra work lately, even more than him, so it felt unfair to complain. A thought from earlier popped up in his head, and the urge to share it was too strong to ignore. “I saw a crow outside the window during the morning meeting and thought I was hallucinating.”

Qrow’s eyes widen a fraction, and the crimson irises dart to the side. “A crow, huh?”

“Yeah, it was just...sitting there. Watching the screen. Paying better attention than I was,” Clover chuckles, his laughter increasing when Qrow snorts. “It was pretty cute, from what I could see. Though it was too far away to get a good look.”

“Ah, that so?”

Qrow has a strange expression on his face. He looks almost embarrassed, which strikes Clover as odd. Maybe the name similarity is making this weird for him.

Clover doesn’t get a chance to ask further, because the gaggle of Qrow’s kids all came barreling into the cafeteria, some (Ren specifically) quieter than others, but overall the herd is so loud they draw all attention. They rush over towards them and in an instant Ruby and Yang each have an arm looped around Qrow’s.

“Uncle Qrow, will you come do some training with us?” Ruby pleads, silver eyes big and gleaming.

“It would be nice to get some pointers,” Weiss adds with Oscar nodding in agreement enthusiastically next to her.

Yang gestures towards Qrow with her free arm, “Hey captain, you don’t mind if we borrow this old man, right?”

“Hey!” Qrow squawks. The kids all laugh, and Clover bings his mug up to his lips for another sip to keep a smile off his own face.

“Not at all, have fun.” Clover is a little disappointed having their conversation cut short, but he does have a mission to get ready for. 

The kids make as much noise leaving as they did entering, even as Qrow tells them to quiet down while they continue to drag him off. Clover smiles the entire time he watches them leave, feeling a little more energized from the interaction.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a fool who did two fics for today which is why neither is finished lmao. I just love fair game so much, y'all.
> 
> [This is my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tinglecannon)


End file.
